We can all remember what it was like when we first became parents. Sort of.

Or at least some of us can. The rest of us might only recall a fragmented series of half-remembered blurs. It’s pretty exciting so it’s understandable that you might forget a few things in the flurry of the moment. Sure, we remember the important stuff like seeing and hearing our little one for the first time. But from then on out, memory can get a little iffy, for things like the straw for your kid’s juice box, their shoe size, or even the kid’s name for a second.

I’ve personally lost count of how many times I’ve lost count and I’ve forgotten… um… something something.

Maybe it’s their adorableness that makes a grilled cheese sandwich of our memories. Or the loss of sleep and sudden, complete change of every single part of our lives. Who knows, but it’s totally normal. So, don’t worry about things slipping your mind or break dancing on the tip of your tongue forever.

Here are some things you might want to try to remember to bring when the baby starts to come, before you’ve become parents. If you’ve already had kids, consider this short list a reminder of some things you can’t even remember that you might have forgotten to bring.

PAPERWORK

The baby is coming, however long it takes, but having your ID, insurance and medical papers will actually ease the process. You might want to write your birth plan on your body if you’ve made one, just in case you lose or forget it in 10 seconds.

CLOTHES

Wherever you’re having the baby, bring a change of clothes. Several. Okay, just grab suitcases stuffed with your entire wardrobe. It can take a while and sweating is not an uncommon occurrence during delivery. For goodness sake at least bring underwear! Double-up if you have to. Yikes.

FOOD

The amount of nervous energy even dad-to-be will expend tapping a foot or fingers or gripping an armrest is close to 1,000 calories per centimeter of dilation. Bring a satchel of food. Avoid strong-smelling ones, though. Follow the elevator/movie theater rule on smells and loud crunching sounds. (The sound of cattle munching on pop rocks is not a fitting background noise for the birthing area.)

CELLPHONE CHARGER

Why isn’t this just “cellphone”? Because it’s the charger we always forget, right? Plus, the charger acts like a reminder rubber band for the phone. You should probably bring a portable generator as well just in case you get stuck in an elevator or stranded on a desert island.

CAMERA?

It’s up to the mom. If she wants you to put your phone under a car tire, so there isn’t even the slightest chance it could go off and capture anything during delivery, then put it in reverse, bucko. If your phone can’t take pictures, you probably need to say goodbye to your flip phone or pager and say hello to this century; statistically, you’re probably going to want to document all the amazing things your new baby does. Without a tripod or a camera that needs a shoulder strap.

CONTRACTION APP

If you are having a baby naturally, there is no cooler thing than emailing all your friends a record log of your wife’s contraction history. They’ll absolutely love it. Come to think of it, post it on Instagram, too! Fun for everyone, on the entire planet. But really, this app can come in really handy when deciding when you need to leave for the hospital, and you won’t want to be bothered with annoying tasks like counting and reading time. Remember, this is an event that people practice breathing for.

PUSH GIFTS

Nothing says ‘I love you, champ, you’re doing great’ like getting a gift after each big push. There are, however, a lot of pushes, so keep it simple and cost-effective. Even if it’s just cheesy puffs or her favorite flavor of PEZ. If she wants, you can make a game of it and she can try to catch them in her mouth. Dads-to-be might want to get agreement on this one first before they start lobbing prizes and morsels at her.

HAND PUPPETS

Labor can take a long time, so relaxation and stress relief is important. Everyone loves a puppet show, so dad can keep mom and the nurses/midwives entertained. Throw a couple of extra tube socks and a magic marker in your bag and you’re set. Showtime! Who’s with me?! Why are you all looking at me like that?

You’re probably going to forget some or all of these. So, print this out and make a hat out of it or something, just in case. And maybe even add a bunch of other useful points not list here. This website isn’t exactly any place you should ever really go for legitimate information, if you’re interested in things like “expert advice” or “results.” For those, try here.

Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the huggable folks at Huggies. Since we don’t really try to offer advice that anyone should follow on our website unless they sign a waiver, you might have better luck with some of the tips they’ve rounded up here on Mommy Answers.

6 Comments

Haha great post. That contraction app stuff – I laughed at it for most of my pregnancy (and even before I was pregnant), but it actually was the only thing that told me I was in labour! I started tapping at it when I felt a ‘pang’ out of curiosity, thinking I was being stupid, but when it said I was 2min apart in some places, I knew it was time to get a move on! Even then, I wasn’t sure! Don’t worry, it got WAY more hurty later haha.

It totally over packed for the hospital, but was glad I was over prepared. That contraction app was SUPER important to my wife. Probably the most important thing for her that I brought. More important item for me? Coffee.

Ha ha! My baby came 8 weeks early so I was standing the bath yelling “Pack a bag!” He packed a book about programming (to keep him occupied), his laptop, and some hastily grabbed mismatching clothes (no underwear). He did remember the camera though… and since we had a baby 45 minutes later we didn’t actually need much more…

As I was six weeks before my due date I was convinced my husband was making a fuss over nothing and the hospital would send me home. My bag contained purse, keys, phone, a cereal bar left over from work the previous day and a hand held fan. Nothing else. Having said that the sprog arrived so quickly that I didn’t actually need anything and any clothes we would have packed for him didn’t end up fitting him for another 3 months! I plan to be a little more organised next time and listen to my mother when (at 32 weeks) she says ‘pack your bags, you never know when that baby is going to arrive’!